The present invention relates to a method and network element for establishing a connection to a local service in a cellular network, such as a GSM (Global System for Mobile Telecommunications) or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) network.
In Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs), supplementary services enable subscribers, connected to the PLMN and possibly also to other networks, to form closed groups to and from which access is restricted. Such closed group services are CUG (Closed User Groups), WIO (Wireless Intranet Offices), LAN (Local Area Networks) or WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). A specific user may be a member of one or more of such closed group supplementary services. Members of a specific closed group supplementary service can communicate among each other but not, in general, with users outside the group. The closed group supplementary service is provided after a prior arrangement with the service provider. At provision, subscription options can be selected by the served mobile subscriber.
In public places, such as large outdoor happenings (rock concert, sports event, etc.) or amusement parks, visitors often like to get in touch with the organizing personnel in order to get information or assistance. However, usually visitors do not know whom to contact and where to look for a contact person.
Nowadays, people often carry mobile telephones which could be easily used for such contact purposes. However, a contact number does not exist. The allocation of a temporary number in the PLMN for this purpose would be expensive and meaningless for the organizer of the event. Moreover, the temporary number would cover the whole PLMN and not only a restricted area.
Furthermore, the establishment of a closed group service would require a prior subscription of a visitor so as to be allowed to contact the closed group.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and network element for establishing a connection to a local service, by means of which an access to the local service is possible by any mobile telephone.
This object is achieved by a method for establishing a connection to a local service, comprising the steps of:
providing a local area having a limited coverage;
defining a visitor access requirement based on at least one visitor criterion for a temporary access to said local area;
analyzing a received connection attempt with respect to the visitor access requirement; and
establishing the connection if the received connection attempt meets the visitor access requirement.
Furthermore, the above object is achieved by a network element for establishing a connection to a local service, comprising:
receiving means for receiving a connection attempt from a terminal;
storing means for storing at least one visitor criterion determining a visitor access requirement for a temporary access to a local area providing the local service;
analyzing means for analyzing the received connection attempt with respect to the visitor access requirement; and
control means for performing a control so as to initiate a call establishment if the received connection attempt meets the visitor access requirement.
Accordingly, a location-based subscription to a closed group supplementary service can be provided, wherein a subscriber or a group of subscribers in a specific area is given a temporary visiting access to the closed local cellular network. The local area may be a local cellular network, one or a plurality of predetermined cells of a cellular network, or the like, and is mainly used for internal communication of an organizer or service personnel, but a visitor access can be allocated to xe2x80x9coutsidersxe2x80x9d.
Preferably, the at least one visitor criterion comprises a visitor dialling number, a predetermined location of a terminal generating the received connection attempt, the time of the received connection attempt, and/or an identity of the terminal generating the received connection attempt, or a combination of these. Thus, a temporary access can be realized e.g. by allocating certain telephone numbers within the network for xe2x80x9cvisitor connectionsxe2x80x9d. These visitor telephone numbers may be indicated in the service area, such that any visitor carrying a mobile telephone may contact the organizing or service personnel. Preferably, at least one predetermined visitor number is allocated for visitor connections within the local area. In this case, the analyzation step comprises comparing a dialled number of the received connection attempt with the at least one predetermined visitor number. The at least one predetermined visitor number may be released for further use after the connection has been completed. Alternatively, a plurality of parallel connections may be established when a plurality of connection attempts meeting the visitor access requirement have been received.
The number of services provided to the established visitor connection may be limited. Thereby, a subset of all possible services for a visitor can be decided by the operator or service provider. Moreover, a network charging rate may be determined based on a subscriber information derived from the connection attempt and/or a service requested by the connection attempt. Thus, a cheap or even free service can be provided to good customers, and special services may be priced at a higher rate.
The xe2x80x9cvisitor callxe2x80x9d can be routed to a preferred destination, e.g. to a nearest info desk or service person.
The routing of the call can be determined based on a subscriber information (e.g. location) derived from the connection attempt and/or other information (e.g. time of the day) relating to the call.
Preferably, the local service may be an information or location service, a wireless private branch exchange service, an online voting, polling or gambling service, or a visitor LAN service.
The analyzing means of the network element may comprise an extracting means for extracting an information relating to the at least one visitor criterion from the received connection attempt, and a comparing means for comparing the extracted information with the at least one visitor criterion stored in the storing means, wherein the control means performs the control in response to the comparison result of the comparison means.
Preferably, the network element may be a visitor location register serving the local area.
Furthermore, a user interface of the terminal may comprise a voice connection and/or a video connection to an information desk, an interactive graphical menu or an interactive map, or any combination of these, e.g. the menu could be downloaded from an MeXE (Mobile Station Application Execution Environment) server or WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) based solutions could be used. Thus, a flexible local visitor access to a predetermined set of services can be provided.